Institute for Biblical & Scientific Studies

Biblical Archaeology:
Ugaritic

Another important Discovery was the Ras Shamra Tablets written in
Ugaritic. Picture of El their chief god.

Modern Ras Shamra in Syria is the location of the ancient city of Ugarit.
It was discovered in 1929 by a farmer who found a tomb. The tablets that
were found were written in cuneiform, but in a different language named
Ugaritic that was quickly deciphered.

Ugaritic is very similar to Hebrew. A number of words are the same in Hebrew
and Ugaritic. The study of Ugaritic is very important for Old Testament
studies. See Ugarit
and the Bible.

Religious tablets were found that still give new insights into Canaanite
mythology especially about El and Baal.

Some 400 newly discovered tablets have yet to be cleaned, transcribed,
and translated.